Kuzul

Surprise, surprise.  A 2010 playoff game ended up being all about pitching.

Game 2 of the National League Championship Series between the Philadelphia Phillies and San Francisco Giants ended up being a story of the two starting pitchers:  Roy Oswalt and Jonathan Sanchez.

Oswalt pitched an absolute gem, throwing eight innings of three-hit baseball, allowing only one run while striking out nine and walking three.

It was just what the Phillies needed to even up the series after the Giants did the unthinkable by beating Roy Halladay in Game 1.

Sanchez didn’t pitch poorly for the Giants, but he was still out-dueled by Oswalt.

In the first inning, Sanchez was wild.  He struck out the side, but only after three walks and an error, leading to an unearned run.

Sanchez then settled down and started mowing down Phillies batters, and his teammates eventually rewarded him when Cody Ross launched a home run off Oswalt in the fifth.

But the Phillies immediately retook the lead in the bottom of the fifth after a leadoff double and two sacrifice flies.

Philadelphia would hold on to the lead and extend it, eventually winning the game, 6-1.

So, what does this mean for each team?

San Francisco Giants

This certainly isn’t the end of the world for San Francisco.  They are still in very good shape.  At the start of the series, the Phillies had Hallday, Oswalt and Cole Hamels lined up to start the first three games. 

Staring down that murderer’s row of pitchers, the Giants teed off on Halladay in Game 1, earning the win and establishing confidence.

If they can hit Halladay, they can hit anyone.  Though they didn’t hit Oswalt last night, they should still be confident when they have to face him again.

Also, the Giants went into Philly and earned a split.  That’s about as good of an outcome as they could have hoped for.  Now the pressure is on the Phillies to win a game in San Francisco.

Philadelphia Phillies

That win was just what the doctor ordered for the Phillies.  Game 2 is too early for a must-win game in most playoff series, but it was just that for Philadelphia.

You can’t go down 2-0 heading to San Francisco and hope to win two ballgames against the Giants’ young arms.

Cole Hamels vs. Matt Cain in Game 3 on Tuesday afternoon will be the pivotal matchup in this year’s NLCS.

Whoever wins that game will be in the driver’s seat for the rest of the series.

While the matchup appears to be about pitching, it’s more about the offenses.

Can the Phillies build off their offensive success in Game 2, or will the Giants’ young arms return to form and shut them down.

Also, how will the lefty Hamels fare against the right-handed bats the Giants bring to the table.

Game 3 Prediction

Matt Cain and the San Francisco Giants will take their first home game in this series, 3-2.  San Francisco’s offense will do just enough against Hamels to earn a victory, while Cain will hold Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and the Philadelphia offense to few enough runs to get the win.

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When Philadelphia Phillies manager Charlie Manuel walked to the mound in the eighth inning, talked with his starting pitcher, and walked back to the dugout, as a San Francisco Giants fan I was hoping this would be his Grady Little moment. Little, once the manager of the Boston Red Sox, infamously left ace Pedro Martinez on the mound in the 2003 ALCS and watched him implode against the New York Yankees.

But with the way Roy Oswalt was pitching, it was a fool’s hope. He was clicking on all cylinders, and there was little the Giants could do to make Manuel pay.

Oswalt was what Roy Halladay was not in Game 1: stifling. On the other side, Giants left-hander Jonathan Sanchez, who struck out 11 Atlanta Braves in his first postseason start, struggled out of the gate. Sanchez was a very dependable third starter this season for the staff that led the major leagues in ERA, winning 13 games. But if there was one knock on him it was his wildness. He led the majors with 96 walks in 193 innings, a concerning ratio. And the negative managed to rear its ugly head, in the form of three first-inning walks and 35 painful pitches.

He was all over the place, but the home plate umpire was too, calling clear balls strikes and clear strikes balls. One blown call came with the bases loaded. Entering his appearance against Jimmy Rollins, the 27-year old  had struck out two, walked two, and witnessed a throwing error by third baseman Mike Fontenot that brought Aubrey Huff well off the first-base bag. Forty-six thousand were on their feet as Rollins dug in, then they cheered profusely as umpire Dan Iassogna inexplicably called a 3-1 pitch that clearly nipped the inside corner a ball, allowing Chase Utley to walk home for the game’s first run.

Iassogna gave pitchers the outside corner throughout, but he was far from kind when they painted the inner portion. For Sanchez’s pitch to reach the inside corner, as a lefty the ball has to cross the plate somehow. But, Sanchez somehow managed to put that blown call behind him and allow just the single run, striking out Raul Ibañez to end the threat.

When the bases were loaded, the Giants were wary of Sanchez’s rough start, as reliever Guillermo Mota was loosening in the bullpen. But Sanchez forced Mota to sit back down in limiting the damage, and the bullpen didn’t stir for a while as he settled into a groove. A lot of pitches were thrown. Some more walks were issued and hits were allowed, but he persevered, putting up three straight zeros and then was rightfully rewarded for his efforts by an unsurprising bat.

Oswalt had cruised through the first four innings, pitching very effectively and economically to keep his pitch count low entering the fifth. With one out in that inning, Cody Ross stepped to the plate. The same bearded Cody Ross who slugged two inside fastballs in nearly the exact same section of the left-field seats in Game 1. Oswalt missed away with the first pitch, but then made a costly mistake.

A fastball was fired in, approaching the inside corner, right in Ross’ wheelhouse. And he didn’t miss it, crushing the pitch to nearly the same exact spot as Saturday night’s two. It was an amazing scene, and for the third time in as many nights groans from Phillies fans and screams of joy from Giants fans could be heard after liftoff.

Groans turned to cheers and cheers screams of joy turned to groans as Philadelphia quickly fought back, receiving a leadoff double by Shane Victorino just past a diving Fontenot at third and two sacrifice flies by their big hitters to snag a 2-1 lead. San Francisco now had to get another run out of Oswalt to have a chance of heading home with a 2-0 series advantage, but Oswalt made sure Ross’ majestic shot was all his opponent would muster.

His fastball was lively, sitting at a deceptively quick 93 on the gun all night. His sinker was sharp, and his changeup had its late movement. Sanchez managed to pitch into the seventh, which was a tremendous feat given his first-inning woes and early high-pitch count, but Oswalt was the man of the match. Tim Lincecum unquestionably led his Giants in Game 1, and Oswalt did the same for his Phillies, striking out hitters right and left to put together a superb outing.

Despite his excellence, it was only a one-run margin. That was, until the seventh, when the bullpen fell apart. Manager Bruce Bochy, who trusted Sanchez enough to pitch him in the do-or-die 162nd game against the San Diego Padres, sent him back out there to only pull him one batter in. His 100th pitch was slapped up the middle by Oswalt of all hitters, and then Sanchez, receiving a bevy of high-fives, took his seat on the bench and looked on in horror as the bullpen imploded.

After his replacement, Ramon Ramirez, allowed the Phillies third run to score, Rollins delivered the crushing blow against Santiago Casilla, lacing a double into the right-center gap to plate three teammates. The lead was now 6-1, and Philadelphia would go on to win by that margin, as Oswalt pitched the eighth and Ryan Madson handled the ninth to even the series.

The series now heads to San Francisco, with the Phillies bats hot and every Giant except for Ross not. He can’t do it all, and if the Giants are going to reach their first World Series since 2002 they need other bats to wake up so Oswalt’s performance can’t be duplicated.

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It was the matchup everyone was waiting for: Tim Lincecum vs. Roy Halladay. Roy Halladay pitched a no-hitter in this postseason’s first game, while Tim Lincecum threw a two-hit shutout complemented by 14 K’s.

In Game 1 of the NLCS, however, neither pitcher lived up to the expectations of a 1-0 game.

Roy Halladay gave up four earned runs in seven innings of work last night, including two home runs to Cody Ross. Tim Lincecum got the win, matching Halladay’s seven innings and giving up three earned runs. 

Neither pitcher was even close to being the player of the game. Both were in the shadows of Cody Ross, who had Roy Halladay’s number last night, bashing two homers off him. Lincecum gave up home runs to Carlos Ruiz and Jayson Werth. So, while the theme in Game 1 was supposed to be pitching, it turned out to be the long ball.

The Giants put the heavily favored Phillies behind in the series, 1-0, when Brian Wilson came in to get the save, striking out four out of the four batters he faced. 

But the Phillies do not need to worry. Between Oswalt and Hamels, I like the Phillies’ chances of winning the next two games.

Oswalt has a 1.74 ERA since joining the Phils earlier this year, and Hamels has been pitching much better this year than he did in 2009. Hamels looked great throwing a shutout against the Reds to finish off the sweep of the Reds. Additionally, Hamels knows how to pitch in the playoffs. When the Phillies won the World Series in 2008, Hamels was awarded the World Series MVP.

Although this is the first time the Phils have lost Game 1 of a postseason series in three years, they just seem to win every playoff series they are in. In the Phillies last seven postseason series, they have only lost one.

With Oswalt going in Game 2 against Jonathan Sanchez, one has to think that there is going to be a pitching duel. Oswalt has been dominant for the Phils this year, especially at Citizens Bank Park. Sanchez has been great against the Phillies this year with a 1.38 ERA against them. 

With Oswalt’s experience of pitching in the playoffs for the Astros, the Phillies have the edge in pitching experience for Game 2. Sanchez is a postseason rookie pitching in a hostile Citizens Bank Park. 

In Game 3, the pitching matchup will be Cole Hamels vs. Matt Cain in San Francisco. Hamels is one of the best playoff pitchers left in this year’s postseason. Cain is a postseason rookie just as Sanchez, but he is not bad for a first-timer. Cain gave up no earned runs in 6.2 innings against the Braves in Game 2 of the NLDS.

Cain was chosen to start by manager Bruce Bochy in Game 3 instead of Game 2 because of his 5.29 career ERA at Citizens Bank Park. He will start at AT&T Park, where he has had a career 3.16 ERA.

The Phillies have to hold the edge in Game 3 with Hamels, who seems to always be lights-out in the playoffs. I believe Cain will pitch a good game, but the Phillies have too much star power with the bats, and will manage to score enough runs for Hamels.

In Game 4, it’s Joe Blanton going for the Fightin’ Phils and Madison Bumgarner for the Giants. Blanton has been far from good this year and Bumgarner is not only a playoff rookie, he is a first-year Major League pitcher. In terms of pitching, I am going to give the Giants a slight edge, but pitching will not be as much of a factor in this game as in the first three.

If there is any game in this series that will be a slugfest, it will be Game 4.

Whichever team shows up to hit the ball in Game 4 will probably be the winner. If the Giants can get an early lead, I think they will win the game. The way the Phillies can win the game is if Blanton gives up fewer than five runs and the Phillies just hit the ball pretty well against Bumgarner. 

In Game 4, I believe the Giants have the best chance at winning the game.

If Game 5 is necessary, it will be a 50-50 toss-up, just like Game 1. Don’t expect another 4-3 game, think more along the lines of 2-0 or 2-1. Halladay will toss a great game and Lincecum should match him. With the game at AT&T Park, I like the Giants to win Game 5 with Tim Lincecum pitching a complete game.

If Game 6 is necessary, it will look very similar to Game 2 with Oswalt going against Sanchez. At Citizens Bank Park again, I have to stick with Oswalt in the matchup.

Oswalt has the experience of pitching in big NLCS games in Houston, and he has been brilliant at home for the Phillies this year. The X factor in Game 6 will be the home-field advantage for Oswalt and the Phils. I like Oswalt to outduel Sanchez and win Game 6 for the Phils.

If all of my predictions are correct and this series goes to Game 7, the pitching matchup between Hamels and Cain is the most likely scenario. If that is the case, the Phillies will be heavily favored to win Game 7. Cole Hamels will be dominant, there is almost no question about it. So Matt Cain will have to match Hamels with an absolute gem, and that is no easy task for Cain in Philadelphia.

The Phillies fans will be relentless and make it hard for Cain, along with the rest of the team. Cain has struggled in his career in Philadelphia and I don’t see that changing. Hamels will pitch a good Game 7 and the Phillies will score enough runs off Cain to pull off the win.

The Giants will definitely give the Phillies a run for their money in this series. But between the pitching, hitting and playoff experience of the Phils, they will find a way to win this series.

They always do. 

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Following Tim Lincecum’s second masterful outing of the postseason against the Phillies in Game 1 of the NLCS Saturday, I scanned all the way back to 1958 when the Giants moved to San Francisco from New York to find the greatest pitching gems in SF Giants postseason history.

I found some obvious names, I found some surprise names, I found three names from this year’s Giants squad (no, Barry Zito wasn’t one of them).

Given what Giants starting pitchers have already done this postseason, there’s a strong case to call them the best SF Giants starting rotation ever.

Here are the Top 10 Pitching Gems in SF Giants Postseason History.

The Giants had to win the game for the pitcher to be included.

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Are the 2010 San Francisco Giants the new “Atlanta Braves” of the 90s and early 2000’s? 

Maybe. Think about these:

1.) Buster Posey could potentially be the Giants‘ version of “Chipper Jones.”

2.) Tim Lincecum could potentially be the Giants’ version of “John Smoltz.”

3.) Matt Cain could potentially be the Giants’ version of “Gred Maddux.”

4.) Barry Zito could potentially be the Giants’ version of “Tom Glavine.”

5.) Jonathan Sanchez could potentially be the Giants’ version of “Steve Avery.”

What a foundation?  The Giants management of the late 90s, including Brian Sabean, Ned Coletti, Dick Tidrow, and Dusty Baker, were eyeing the Braves and looking to rebuild, but couldn’t with Barry Bonds’ contract and a gutted farm system. 

So they hired former MLB pitcher and player developer Dick Tidrow to be the Giants VP of Player Personnel and Development. All the players above except for Zito are home-grown Giants players, and the beginnings of a new foundation similar to the Braves blueprint of the late 90s into the early 2000s. 

Of course, the above does not include promising young starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner. Additionally, the other differences between the 90s Braves and today’s Giants is that Cain and Sanchez are even more power-oriented arms than their Braves counterparts.  And power arms succeed in the postseason, according to many experts. 

So maybe the Giants will set forth on a winning tradition, beyond just division or even League pennant championships.  Maybe they’ll somehow succeed at winning a World Series or two or more. 

Right now, the Giants are in a real dog fight for their lives in the dirty south with these Atlanta Braves.  Although they are quite shorthanded by injuries, the Braves and Manager Bobby Cox still have a tradition of winning.  While it may not be the impressive team they once had, the aura and confidence that the Braves and Cox still have is not to be underestimated.

Look for this series to come down to a Game 5.  I think the Giants should be able to edge out the Braves in five games, but it could go either way.  The Giants still lack some key postseason experience in their bullpen, and the offense is not quite where it should be to be a champion.

By the way, LF Pat Burrell should be in the lineup ’til the end of the game, unless the Giants are up by two runs or more late. He reminds me of a modern-day Bobby Thomson (of 1951’s “Shot Heard ‘Round the World fame).

Anyways, if the Giants somehow get past these Braves, that would be a nice feather in their cap at this stage of their development.  The Giants vs. the Phillies quite honestly will be a mismatch.  While the pitching is about even, with maybe a slight edge to the Giants, the Phillies offense, recent postseason experience, and the rest they are now getting after dispatching the Reds will be too much to overcome for the Giants, imho. 

2010 NLDS:  Giants win 3-2 over Braves

2010 NLCS:  Giants lose 2-4 to Phillies

I’m a Giants fan, but this is the likely reality.  We’ll see, of course.   But the good news, this experience will be good for the long-term, as they build on an already excellent young foundation for the next few years to come. 

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The Giants have been torturing the San Francisco faithful all year and this game was no different. This game had two blown saves, two lead changes, and a crucial error all within one inning.

Bottom line is, they won 3-2 and have a 2-1 series lead going into Monday’s Game 4.

Pablo didn’t play. Jonathan Sanchez’s stellar performance. How does Brooks Conrad fit in?

Starting pitching, bullpen, offense, and managerial decisions. All to be analyzed.

Let’s see how the Giants fared after Game 3 of their series with the Atlanta Braves.

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The Atlanta Braves couldn’t get anything started against the San Francisco Giants‘ vaunted pitching staff, so the home-standing Gents took an admittedly unorthodox approach.

They decided to start the Bravos’ offense themselves—not the wisest thing to do for your World Series aspirations, but it sure makes for an exciting night of baseball.

And another significant challenge for emerging southpaw Jonathan Sanchez.

A Pat Burrell bobble in left field helped give Atlanta its first run in 14 divisional-series innings, though Bobby Cox’ squad would have to wait a little longer for its first earned run. That rally two innings later was also aided by an error as a wayward throw from Pablo Sandoval allowed Melky Cabrera to reach and eventually cross the plate as the tying run.

Extra innings were needed to settle the affair, a feat accomplished in the 11th inning when Rick Ankiel exorcised his personal playoff demons with a Bondsian blast into McCovey Cove off of Ramon Ramirez. The former St. Louis Cardinal pitcher, who infamously disintegrated in Game 1 of the 2000 National League Division Series with five wild pitches, obliterated a solo home run that only needed to be heard.

The sound alone told you it wasn’t staying dry.

And that the series was going back to Hotlanta tied at one game apiece.

Somewhat lost in all the shuffle was a blinder from Matt Cain in his postseason debut.

He picked up right where Tim Lincecum left off; though Cainer didn’t match the Freak, he twirled a fantastic ballgame. The 26-year-old tossed six-and-two-thirds innings while tolerating seven hits, two walks, an unearned run, and whiffing six.

Alas, the big right-hander’s defense and bullpen let him down as two regular-season strengths turned into playoff albatrosses in front of the appalled AT&T Park crowd.

Brian Wilson was up from the start of his appearance and that never bodes well for any pitcher, even one of the best door-slammers in the game. The colorful closer got bruised a bit when Alex Gonzalez scalded a ball to the left-center gap, but the only run that crossed home plate belonging to Wilson was unearned thanks to Sandoval’s E-5.

The two earnies belonged to the real bullpen goat, Sergio Romo.

The normally reliable eight-inning man faced two batters (Derrek Lee and Brian McCann), allowed them both to reach on singles, and each would come around to score when Romo’s bearded compadre took a few batters to find his postseason legs.

Meanwhile, the Braves late-inning crew was pressed into early duty by a mediocre playoff debut from Tommy Hanson.

The youngster had a rough first frame that saw Burrell’s three-run jimmy-jack create an early deficit and wouldn’t make the fifth, but a parade of Atlanta relievers stifled the Giants‘ lumber. Southpaw Mike Dunn, righty Peter Moylan, lefty Jonny Venters, and right-hander Craig Kimbrel torched San Francisco‘s lineup with five scoreless innings that saw only three baserunners and eight strikeouts.

Then Kyle Farnsworth did his best to deliver Game 2 on a silver platter after Braves’ closer Billy Wagner left with what looked like a serious injury to his side. Of course, los Gigantes’ season-long nemesis—the dreaded double-play grounder—knifed them in the back again.

Buster Posey was the culprit this time, grounding into a 5-4-3 twin-killing in the bottom of the tenth with the bases loaded.

Ankiel would hit his moon ball two Brave batters later and Farnsworth would put the finishing touches on his win.

Now, Jonathan Sanchez must continue his recent spate of effectively wild outings in order to save the Giants’ tortuous 2010 season. A loss in Game 3 would either require a start from Lincecum on short rest or a horrifically unfavorable predicament for 21-year-old Madison Bumgarner’s first taste of playoff baseball.

All is not lost, however.

True, the lefty did issue 19 free passes in September and October. But he suffered a mere18 hits and half of those were singles i.e. you better hope he walks you because the league “hit” Jonathan to the tune of a .151 batting average and a .261 slugging percentage in 35.2 frames spanning those two months.

The faithful will also recall that he started and won the NL West clincher against the San Diego Padres on Sunday. He set a suffocating tone with the pennant hanging in the balance, a pressure-packed turn on the bump if there ever was one as 161 games culminated in a single contest.

The San Francisco Giants and their fans must hope Jonathan Sanchez is up to the challenge once again.

Because, this time, 164 games depend on it.

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The San Diego Padres have been a thorn in the Giants side all year.

With the exception of the Giants winning three out of four against the Padres in San Diego last month, the Padres have an 8-2 record against the Giants in the other 10 games.

That’s why it’s not enough to just win the division and sit back while Atlanta drops three straight to the Phillies; letting the Padres sneak in as a wild card against a resting Giants.

The Giants must bring their A-game the last two games even if the division is already theirs.

Bay Area sports fans can all remember that one year this century that the Golden State Warriors made the playoffs.  

That was a miracle in its own right and the magic continued when the Warriors won a six-game series against the heavily-favored No. 1 seed Dallas Mavericks who were coming off an NBA Finals loss to the Miami Heat a year earlier with the mantra, “Unfinished Business.”

Where the Mavericks went wrong and where the San Francisco Giants must go right is that with three or so games left in the regular season, the Mavericks faced the Warriors who were fighting for the last playoff spot with the Los Angeles Clippers.

Dallas rested their top players pretty much the whole game, and the Warriors won the game and the last playoff spot by one game over a furious Los Angeles Clippers club who owned the tiebreaker against the Warriors in the standings.

A couple weeks later the Warriors are sending the Mavericks home packing early from the playoffs.  

Unfinished business indeed.

The Padres are currently a game behind the Braves with two games to play.

The Braves are playing the Phillies who would like nothing more than to see their division rival Atlanta Braves miss the playoffs by their own hands in the most disheartening of fashions.

The beautiful thing about this is that if the Giants are going to eliminate the San Diego Padres on their own, then it’s going to come down to the last game of the season where Jonathan Sanchez closes out the regular season for the G-Men. 

Sanchez, for some reason, opened up his big mouth after he lost a game earlier this year just before a three game series with the Padres predicting a sweep and never looking back.

Well here we are with two games left to play and the Giants still don’t own the division and the ball will be in Sanchez’s as he either pitches Sunday to either win the West for the Giants or send the Padres home for some October surfing. 

Barry Zito pitches Saturday in a game which will determine which one of those two things Sanchez will be pitching for—assuming a Braves loss.

The beautiful thing is, either we get to see the Giants eliminate a team that has owned them this year or we get to see a trash-talking Sanchez get a big slice of humble pie.

Either way, this will be an exciting weekend.

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The saying goes good pitching beats good hitting. It’s actually more than a saying. It’s a reality. If you have a dominant pitcher on his game, there is not a hitter on the planet that can hit him.

Painting the black. Hitting your spots. Changing speeds.

It is something the Giants pitching staff has done very well for the past 18 games. They have not allowed more than three runs in a game since September 4.

No pitching staff in the modern age has put together a better stretch. In fact only two other teams since 1900 have put together such a stretch, the 1916 New York Giants (19) and the 1917 Chicago White Sox (20).

This means every man from the ace of the staff to the last bullpen guy is getting the job done. Every last pitcher is hitting on all cylinders.

In September, the Giants have a team ERA of 1.44 with a WHIP of 0.82. The starting staff has a combined ERA of 1.85, and the bullpen has given up two runs in 51 innings. That comes out to a 0.35 ERA.

With all of this recent September success, a question remains: Can this continue into the postseason? Can the Giants pitching staff ride this momentum into October and make an impact?

October baseball has always been about strong pitching and clutch hitting. Let’s focus on the pitching.

The type of guys that usually flourish in the postseason are hard-throwing control pitchers. It so happens the Giants have those. Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, and Jonathan Sanchez provide that in the rotation.

All these guys can get the strikeout if needed and have proven so. Sanchez and Lincecum will have over 200 strikeouts this season. Cain is currently at 165, but as Giants fans have seen, when he needs one, he can get one.

Santiago Casilla, Dan Runzler, and Brian Wilson provide that out of the bullpen. Hard to argue with guys who throw in the mid-to-high 90s.

In fact, if you were to go back through the Giants’ history and look at past pitching staffs, this could be the best pitching staff the San Francisco Giants have ever had.

Are there individual exceptions? Yes, but there has not been an entire staff that has dealt in the team’s history.

Think about any of the pitching staffs of the 90s and early 2000s…pitching wasn’t that trustworthy.

Think back to the 1989 team. Why did they lose the World Series to the Athletics?

Oh, right. Steroids…I mean lack of pitching.

From beginning to end, it is tough to find a weakness in the pitching staff. In the playoffs, though, it is about matchups.

If the playoffs were to start today, San Francisco would be hosting the Cincinnati Reds.

Playoff experience will be a wash in the series. The Reds have not been to the playoffs since the 1990s, and the Giants not since 2003.

There are key guys who have been there before (i.e. Scott Rolen, Barry Zito, Juan Uribe) but the teams as a whole will be in for a new experience.

The Giants are 4-3 against the Reds this season. They split their first series in Cincinnati and took two out of three in San Francisco.

The series in San Francisco was the worst the pitching staff had looked all season. It was the middle of August and the starting pitching was falling apart. Lincecum could not buy a win. Zito looked like the 2007 version of himself. Hitting off Madison Bumgarner was like hitting off of a tee.

But there was one guy who the Reds could not figure out. That person was Cain. In his two starts, he allowed two runs in 17 innings (two wins).

Tim Lincecum did not face the Reds this season.

In a short series, the Giants arms could neutralize the Reds bats. The difference could be the type of player Joey Votto turns into come October.

Cain might be the person you start twice in this series (if necessary). Recent success should have much to do with that decision.

A four-man rotation seems to make the most sense at this point. Roll with Lincecum, Sanchez, Cain, Zito. They have varying styles and having lefties in the rotation for teams like Philadelphia and Cincinnati is always helpful.

If the Giants pitching can keep up the torrid pace, they will be a team no offense will want to face.

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Everyone knew the San Francisco Giants’ starting pitching would be the team’s strength heading into the 2010 season.

However, even those lofty expectations didn’t prepare the Major League Baseball world for what would unfold in the month of April—the starters came out firing bullets.

Extremely accurate and effective bullets.

Tim Lincecum roared from the gates (1.27 ERA, 0.82 WHIP, 43:7 K:BB) and three of the other four starters were right on his heels.

Barry Zito (1.53 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 24:11 K:BB), Jonathan Sanchez (1.85 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 33:13 K:BB), and Matt Cain (3.80 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 16:4 K:BB) did their best freakish imitations.

However, the lads cooled considerably when the calendar began turning pages as Lincecum embarked on a Cy-Young-self-seeking journey that lasted several months and “Baked Zito” regressed badly.

That and the presence of the original (and underwhelming) fifth starter, Todd Wellemeyer, killed any historical talk regarding the Gents’ rotation.

Of course, things have changed.

Rookie-phenom Madison Bumgarner grabbed the No. 5 slot in late June, and the 21-year-old hasn’t shown even a slight hint of relinquishing it.

In fact, you could make a strong argument that the grizzled veteran, Zito, is the weakest link at this point.

When a 32-year-old former Cy Young could be the worst option in a rotation, it’s time to think about attaching “all-time” to any flattering description.

But, first, let’s take a closer look at the suspects:

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